The 2nd HPD report - Health Policy Monitor

The policy emphasizes personal responsibility for health care
coverage while expanding the role of medical insurance in financing
health care costs. As an incentive, the government offers
employers additional tax reductions of about 1 percent starting in
April 2004.
Sources and further reading:
www.mom.gov.sg/MOM/CDA/0,1858,4469--------1760----1,
00.html
www.mti.gov.sg/public/PDF/CMT/ERC_Wages_Executi
veSummary.pdf?sid=148&cid=1440
USA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
In 2003, Congress passed important amendments to the 1996
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
HIPAA protects citizens’ health coverage during events such as
changing or losing jobs, pregnancy, relocation or divorce. The
portability aspects also provide rights and protection to employers
when they implement and renew health coverage for their employees.
The accountability measures protect the integrity, confidentiality
and availability of electronic health information.
The HIPAA Administrative Simplification—the first-ever federal
privacy standards to protect patients’ medical records and
other health information provided to health plans, doctors, hospitals
and other health care providers—took effect on April 14,
2003. Developed by the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS), these new standards give patients access to their
medical records and more control over how their personal health
information is used and disclosed. They represent a uniform,
federal floor of privacy protections for consumers across the
country. The new regulations do not affect state laws providing
additional protections to consumers.
Other recent amendments to the HIPAA (particularly in 2001
and 2002) brought reforms in terms of portability, access and
renewability requirements. The law prohibits discrimination
against participants based on health status.
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Enhancing
individual
responsibility
Improvements
in insurance
coverage
Privacy of
health data